Posts Tagged: Boone Wedding and Portrait Photographers
Ashley & Oscar engagement photos | 2 backgrounds, 1 God
There were years (in the many hundreds) when people married young. Maybe your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents did. No one thought anything about it and I’m not prepared to give a history lesson about why it worked or didn’t. Young brides and grooms, older brides and grooms…. we ALWAYS cheer for a strong marriage that lasts until Al Roker is talking about it on the Today Show.
These 2 below, Violet and Floyd, were married for 67 years. They were married young, were 21 and 22 in this photo, and in 2015, they passed away holding hands with their hospice beds pushed together. 67 years and together right until the last moment.
Who knows why some young marriages work and last, producing thriving families, smartypants kids, and reels and reels of memories? But they do. When we hear, “but they’re SO YOUNG,” as we have in our tenure as wedding photographers, we think, “but what if what they have is the big “IT?” We believe Ashley & Oscar have it. They are young, yes, but they have the depth, gravitas, self-awareness and sense of longevity – and they displayed it during our photo session.
They have “it” and IT is a shared belief in Christ and each other.
Ashley and Oscar met when her church took a trip to Mexico. When Oscar returned to school in the states, they started spending more time together and realized their similar dreams and feelings. Ryan and I have known them for a while. Oscar and Ashley’s brother Daniel were models for us during a prom shoot a few years ago. The Caudill’s have supported Pixels On Paper Photography and we’ve always appreciated their love and care for us. Now we get to return the favor as documentarians and friends.
I’ve never been around a couple, even twice their age, who were more grounded in faith, family and tradition. Ashley will finish the last of both her high school and college courses in December and then they will be married in NC. A honeymoon in Mexico is planned and Ashley will finally be able to meet all of Oscar’s family. We’re excited about the stories to come of how these families will blend into one and write their own new story with Him at the center. We couldn’t be more hopeful or proud or happy for them.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or NC high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddings, brides, and special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio as well as the surrounding areas. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms. Contact us to schedule your portrait or wedding photography.
Happy Anniversary … to a couple we know
It has been a year. A whole, big, replete, exhausting, fun, “where are my keys”, “doesn’t she look amazing?”, “I can’t believe we survived”, “oh holy moly, that was the best!!” year since our 10th anniversary in business as Pixels on Paper.
The calendar tells us that there is a beginning of every new year and it’s January 1. But the thing is…. your birthday, your anniversary is the beginning of YOUR new year and Pixels On Paper was birthed in June of 2005. It’s our birthday. It’s Pixels On Paper’s 11th anniversary. We did it – AGAIN!
Minick Outdoor Maternity Portrait Photography
During the last 12 months, we’ve photographed siblings holding onto each other. We focused our lenses on businesses we love, vendors we collaborate with and admire, taken post-wedding photos with mountains in the distance….. families gathered and smiling… orchards in bloom, brides lit with joy, new husbands unable to stop grinning, kids racing around and babies, babies, babies. We have loved every single minute.
Prom girl in bloom thanks to Bridal Traditions and beYOUtiful Proms
Boondocks Brewery – the installation of new tanks for yummy brews
Bridal bouquet by Edenhouse Floral
Private home ready for sale (and it sold… quickly)
Hoben family reunion on family property (and that’s just 16 of them)
Quinceanera photos for a gorgeous young woman
a Southern Belle to end all Southern Belles
Charleston SC engagement portraits
We also got to send some love to locations where we shoot weddings and events. The Holiday Inn City Center in Charlotte, Leatherwood Resort and Winding Creek Wedding Barn are merely 3.
the rooftop at the Holiday Inn City Center Charlotte
Leatherwood Mountain Resort is scenic, elegant and rustic
from a photoshoot at Winding Creek Wedding Barn
It was our second year as official photographers for Merlefest. We were completely rested about a month later.
WE LOVE THAT GIG.
And we captured loads of babies…. some were reaching out for “kid-dom” but they’re still babies.
Here’s to the next 12 months, the coming autumn (2 weeks away) and holidays and thanks to you all for an amazing year.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs, engagements and weddings, brides, and special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
pixels vendor spotlight: Bridal Traditions Wedding and Prom Attire
Somehow, after all of these years and too many collaborations to count, we’ve never blogged about Bridal Traditions as a beloved and favorite vendor and partner of ours. Kelly Shumate, the owner of BT, is a dear friend and not only have we worked with her, but for her, creating her custom logo and branding.
We also took her wedding renewal portraits in one of the more unique and beautiful sessions we’ve had with a bride and groom. Honestly, that’s the word for Kelly and the options and perspective she provides to her customers at Bridal Traditions and beYOUtiful Proms – unique. Kelly built her business from the ground up starting with a vision but only working at it part-time. She found gowns for weddings, provided dresses and accessories for proms, and later participated in prom campaigns like All About Prom where she could supply the right attire to each lady. By 2008, with no debt (NO. DEBT.) and a storefront, Kelly left her other job and became fulltime owner, operator and visionary for BT.
Kelly is fun to collaborate with because she brings so many creative and clever options to the table when we’re the photographers for a particular promotion or event. You can have the word “Traditions” in your business name and still be modern, fun and completely distinct. 
Every bride, every prom attendee wants to be and look remarkable. You like Scarlett O’Hara? Kelly and her team have got ya. Love The Great Gatsby? Done. Bohemian Chic? She can make you into that perfect gypsy. We look forward to many more years of working with Kelly and her amazing retail operations at Bridal Traditions and beYOUtiful Prom Attire.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs babies and kids, engagements and weddings, brides and special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
pixels’ vendor spotlight: edenhouse floral & events
Deanna Reid, owner of Edenhouse Floral & Events, has been a collaborator and co-conspirator of ours since 2013. In a word: talented.
Creative.
Inspiring. That’s 3 and we’re stopping there, but suffice it to say, she and her team do amazing work.
She’s created floral arrangements for weddings and events we’ve photographed, flower crowns for our portrait clients, and arrangements for our own personal needs. Ryan is wearing one of her flower crowns right now.
Kidding. But the truth is, Deanna brings the juice. Check out the below.
I think, on some level, we all believe that we can sort of “do our best” and get similar results to those of the professionals. Occasionally, this is true, but it’s rare. Deanna uses uses a huge array of flowers, and combines textures and objects in all of her designs. And she has a feel for clients and adds that spark that completes a vision.
We’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from our clients who’ve worked with Deanna, be it on price, service, communication or finished products. She is our go-to recommendation for floral needs. Deanna and her team also now offer wedding planning and coordination, applying their same organization, creative efforts and visions to an entire event.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs babies and kids, engagements and weddings, brides and special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
southern belle bridal portraits ~ beauty among the botanicals
If you’re ever standing at a dinner party in, say, …….Prague… and someone asks you to describe a Southern Belle, Adrian Bridges Church should be your brain’s go-to reference point. We’re not talking the overdone, over-the-top caricature or the Ersatz Southern Lady one meets from time to time in the New South. Adrian is authentic – almost to the point of seeming as if she really is a belle from that era in the American South…….. minus of course, the strife and angst that comes from civil war and the fact that you can’t vote and whatnot.
Adrian’s belle comes out almost immediately in her sense of graciousness, sweetness and hospitality. She could have shown up for her bridal portraits in a hoop skirt and bonnet and we wouldn’t have blinked. Let’s just say she’d have given Melanie Wilkes a run for her money. When we were discussing her wedding photography (we’ll share soon!!), she mentioned that since her wedding was going to be more on the country/rustic side that she really wanted her bridal portraits to be more formal, elegant and in a blooming spring garden, filled with the lushness that comes with the season. There’s just one problem – the weather in the mountains of NC in the spring can be dodgy and sometimes it feels like late October. The solution? Head east toward warmth. And that’s what we did.
The botanical gardens near Winston-Salem were in bloom and they were absolutely gorgeous, making a perfect setting for this bride. When we can bend to make our clients happy, we do it and this was the case with Adrian. When she emerged from the car for her session in early April (after hours of travel for hair and makeup and then more time to get to the gardens), she actually squealed. The combination of her gown and glow, the green of the gardens, purple wisteria, moss and sunshine made our job that day a breeze.
Adrian told us that we’d made her dream of garden portraits come true by locating this spot. LOVE IT when that happens. This belle deserved a setting as genteel and elegant as she is, so we were thrilled to deliver.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs babies and kids, engagements and weddings, brides and special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.